C64 gs

[Belike]

Have a C 64 GS here, never heard of this one
http://szamitastechnika.vatera.hu/pc_asztali_szamitogep/retro_szamitogep_kiegeszito/commodore/commodore_jatek_konzol_c64_gs_2089439969.html

[Etienne MacGyver]

never saw one, but have heard of it
its the C64 without the keyboard.
just the cartridge option, so plug in a game and play

(GS = Game System)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64_Games_System

[lesoleil70]

They are quite the collector item.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Commodore-64-Games-System-In-Original-Box-C64GS-/111682701474?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1a00cec8a2&nma=true&si=FlMuSMZyboqp3wTHZDododorQY0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[level42]

Wow, does it play all 4 cartridge games that were released for the C64 ?




 

[lesoleil70]

Wow, does it play all 4 cartridge games that were released for the C64 ?




 

This is my memory also, I don;t remember anyone having cartridges, so I was amazed to look this up and find so many.
https://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Cartridge

[level42]

Hah, yes I did the same and I was surprised too, very surprised.

However, it still pales compared to the A8 cartridge list. Just like the design of that system, looks like they took a C64 PCB and ordered a generic box for it.

Atari did better, they at least took the effort to make a very nice looking custom design which even required a complete new PCB design (the angled cartridge slot, keyboard connection and joystick ports already demanded that).

And I'm quite sure that even though the XEGS wasn't actually a smash hit, they definitely outsold the C64 GS .......for a change

Cool thing to own though !!! you actually have one Béla ?

[level42]

Mmm, this picture with the ad is interesting, looks like this was a Hungarian cartridge for the system Béla ?

That might be pretty rare then I guess ?

From the text I'm guessing it might be some text displaying program ? maybe for stores etc. ?

[level42]

Interesting write up about the C64 gs and as expected, the only thing they did was rotate the cartridge port (ok and change a OS chip I guess).

The article even says that unsold C64 gs-es were brought back to Commodore and turned into regular C64's !!!
Now that's a story that IMHO is even more interesting than the "famous" Atari E.T. dump, but you never hear about such stuff strangely

http://www.infinitefrontiers.0catch.com/CommodoreC64History.htm

Inside pic:


Very nice collectors item !

The system failed for the same reasons the XEGS didn't do very well: old hardware compared to the existing computers (Amiga, ST) and game consoles already on the market. The XEGS had the luck of a really, really big back-catalog of great games AND (surprisingly) Atari actually release a good number of new cartridges for it. Some were totally new games, some were games that used to be (big) floppy-disk only games but now were bank-switched and pushed into a cartridge (normally an A8 cartridge max. size is 16K but they by-passed this limit with some tricks).
Two of these were Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus.

IMHO another  big mistake for the C64 gs was making it a 100% cartridge system only, you couldn't turn it into a full C64, no separate keyboard, no ports to connect floppy drives/printers etc.

[Belike]

No, I dont have the Atari version, saw some for sale, but they were overpriced and in bad condition.
That cartridge is a demo version of some "user" program, not too much info about it.